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Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

My boy is 8 weeks old and if he isn't asleep he's attached to my breasts lol... I feel like a prisoner now after 2 months.. I get people telling me to put him on formula as he will be more settled and go longer so I can do stuff...

Also he feeds every 2 hours through the night...does this ever get longer?

I need some light at the end of he tunnel... I wanted o breastfeed or 6 months but not if it stas like this

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

hi mama, congrats!!

all babies are different, but most mamas see things get dramatically easier right around now, and perhaps again at the end of the "fourth trimester" (12 weeks or so). it will likely be a gradual getting easier over time.

a lot of mamas find that a carrier of some sort that allows you to get up and do stuff and get out of the house, will also help baby feel secure without being attached at the boob all the time.

this is assuming he's gaining well ... one reason a baby might be continuously nursing more than typical is if he's havign trouble getting enough milk. so: what is his weight gain history? how many wet diapers every day?

feeding every 2 hours through the night is definitely still in the range of normal here, and there are many on here who find that it remains normal for a LONG time (for us, through 21 months when i started to limit it). most babies will start to have a longer sleep session pretty soon, and that's often the first sleep cycle of the night (so go to bed early with your baby!). there are other things you can do to increase your rest while still nursing on demand - like cosleeping, going to bed early, napping with baby, etc. again assuming that baby is gaining well.

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

Great advice from the PP.

I just have to say that if someone told me to feed my baby substandard food (formula) so that I could "go out and do stuff", I would be very curious to know what "stuff" would be more important than my baby. Going grocery shopping? Getting an oil change? Getting my hair done? Cleaning a toilet?

If you are comfortable nursing in public (NIP), you can go out and "do stuff". I have nursed my kids at doctor's appointments, in movie theaters, at dinner in nice restaurants, at friends' houses... If NIP is difficult for you, let us know and we'll brainstorm with you about ways to make it easier!

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

Originally Posted by @llli*mommal

I just have to say that if someone told me to feed my baby substandard food (formula) so that I could "go out and do stuff", I would be very curious to know what "stuff" would be more important than my baby. Going grocery shopping? Getting an oil change? Getting my hair done? Cleaning a toilet?

and ALL of those things are reasonably easy to do with an 8 week old baby. certainly dramatically easier than they are with a 1 year old ... a good friend advised me to go to movies and dinner and everything before 4 months, because after that baby gets harder to take around. totally true IME.

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

I am so sorry to hear that you are beginning to feel frustrated with your little one's schedule. I have also often heard "You are feeding her again" or "If they take formula they go longer in between feedings". I personally do not have the problem at night, which would bother me a lot as well even though we co-sleep, which makes it a lot easier, but my little one eats at least every hour and a half in the day unless she happens to sleep longer for some rare reason. I do use a carrier and I simply feed her where ever we are on demand. I spend a little money to get 5 breast feeding tops from eBay for cheap and this makes it super easy with a cover ( as I am a shy type ) to feed her anywhere in her carrier if we need to.

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

Formula in my experience does not make life easier. I let myself be talked into formula supplements right around this age - 8 or 9 weeks - and looking back I did not need to and should not have. I did combination of bf and formula bottle and I think it would have been easier to only bf but it also might have been harder.

Making bottles, first boiling water and then cooling it off to the the right temperature measuring the powder and then keeping it the right temperature all with a screaming baby on your hip is no fun, and always making sure all the bottles and nipples are sterile is a pain, especially at night. If you go out when bottle feeding the amount of stuff you need to lug with you is huge. Trust me formula does not make your life suddenly easier.

At that age, 8 weeks all ababy does is sleep and eat and poop and pee and then sleep again. But you know those months will pass so quickly really. I remeber promising myself one more day, and one more day. And suddenly he was 4 months and then 5 and it all changed os quickly.

Re carrying - i looked at pics of babasling. It looks uncomfortable. Do you have any opportunities to try other carriers? rwraps? slings? ergo?

Maybe if you attended a local LLL meeting you might meet other moms in the same situation and maybe you could try their carriers.

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

I looked up the babasling too - it looks kind of similar to the way you'd carry a tiny newborn in a ring sling, but without the adjustability. My LO also started to hate being in the ring sling at that age. I personally could never figure out how to nurse in it. I had much better luck with the Ergo. It wasn't quite hands free yet while the baby was that young, but it definitely gave me a free hand, and the ability to leave the couch!

Re: Feeding on demand - When does it get easier

It definitely gets better. My twins nursed constantly day and night, awake and asleep, weeks 5-10. They are 11 weeks old now and still often want to be on the breast for hours at a time, but will take longer breaks to play and look around. They normally sleep 4-6 hours at night, though sometimes it is still 3 hours. I'd say things will start to get easier for you really soon. And, FYI, a bottle never made a difference with mine. They were nursing for comfort for a lot of that time and a bottle did nothing to fix that. Even a three-ounce bottle of formula never helped them go any longer in between feedings.